Chapter 247 Investing in Jobs
Feng Kan remembered something: "I recently found out that Steve Jobs, the former chairman of Apple, was a very capable person. All the technology talents I have come into contact with have great respect for Steve Jobs. He took Apple from a small company to a public company. However, because his business philosophy was different from that of most management, and the general manager and directors blamed Steve Jobs for losing the market, Steve Jobs had to leave Apple. However, Steve Jobs has never given up the desire to return to Apple, and he has been accumulating strength. If we can help him return to Apple, we may be able to gain huge benefits."
Liu Hongmin became interested. He knew that after Jobs returned to Apple, Apple's stock had been rising sharply. If he could buy Apple at the bottom, it would definitely be a good deal.
"You can contact Jobs first without taking a stand. Then keep an eye on Apple. Once Apple faces a major crisis, you can take the opportunity to buy out the shares held by shareholders."
Feng Kan: "Okay, I know what to do."
A few days later, Feng Kan called again and said, "I met Jobs yesterday. He is now running an animation company called Pixar and has just finished shooting an animated short film. However, Pixar still has many projects and Jobs is in urgent need of financial support."
“Then invest in Pixar Animation Company, but don’t invest in my name. Help me set up an investment company in the Cayman Islands, invest in the name of the investment company, and then maintain a good relationship with Jobs. After we get a certain amount of Apple shares, we will help Jobs return to Apple.”
Feng Kan: “Okay!”
Liu Hongmin thought for a moment and said, "The . economy isn't very good right now, and all the capital is concentrated in high-tech. There should be a lot of entertainment companies or animation companies that need to sell copyrights, right? Find a few knowledgeable people to buy the copyrights of some film and television images or animation characters. I remember there are a few companies that specialize in drawing superheroes, see if you can buy some superhero copyrights."
Marvel and DC's superhero movies are very profitable.
Feng Kan didn't know much about this, "I'll ask someone."
"You can contact Richard. He's an editor and should know a lot. Then you can draw up a list and I'll see which copyrights I can buy."
"Ok!"
Feng Kan hung up the phone and went to do it immediately.
While looking for someone to register an investment company, I contacted Richard.
Richard was happy to help Feng Kan, after all, Liu Hongmin never skimped on consulting fees. But Liu Hongmin obviously miscalculated, as neither Marvel nor DC had any intention of selling the copyright.
In the 80s, Marvel was at its peak, and the company was doing very well. It even planned to acquire DC. DC was a subsidiary of Warner. Even if its development was not very good, with Warner's presence, DC had no shortage of development funds.
Liu Hongmin knew about this situation, but he didn't say much. "That's it for now. Don't worry about DC. Just pay attention to Marvel's developments in the future."
His memory was a little fuzzy, he only knew that Marvel went bankrupt before the millennium. Since Marvel is doing well now, it means it has not reached the end of the road. But now it is 88 years, 12 years away from the millennium, Marvel will definitely decline gradually in these 12 years. Then, it will be time for him to buy at the bottom.
Feng Kan was very obedient and directly asked the investment company to pay attention to the development of Marvel. Then he followed Liu Hongmin's instructions and contacted Jobs. After several negotiations, Feng Kan used 25 million US dollars to obtain % of Pixar's shares.
With the $20 million investment, Jobs began to recruit people and speed up the progress of the projects. He started the project of the animated short film "Tin Toy" in advance. "Tin Toy" is the inspiration of "Toy Story". Jobs plans to use "Tin Toy" to participate in the Oscars next year, and then start "Toy Story".
"Toy Story" is the first 3D animation. Like "Mickey Mouse", which pioneered the sound animation, and "Snow White", which was the color animation, it has epoch-making significance.
More importantly, when investing, Liu Hongmin specifically asked Feng Kan to add a condition, that is, Pixar would allow Liu Hongmin's animation company to send people to learn every year. In exchange, when facing Apple, Liu Hongmin would stand on the same side as Jobs.
Jobs was surprised by this unexpected ally, but after investigating Liu Hongmin, he knew that Liu Hongmin was indeed a good ally.
All of Liu Hongmin's businesses in the United States are aimed at making money. This is true for investing in Pixar and facing Apple. As long as Jobs can help Liu Hongmin gain benefits, Liu Hongmin will stand by him unconditionally.
From the cooperation between Random House, Hasbro and Liu Hongmin, we can see that Liu Hongmin is a person who likes win-win situations. While ensuring his own interests, he also strives for the interests of his partners.
Therefore, over the years, Random House and Hasbro have always been close to Liu Hongmin, and have repeatedly made things happen for his personal affairs. Liu Hongmin did not let them suffer any loss, and would give benefits to the two companies in many aspects.
Jobs believed that with Liu Hongmin's influence on Random House and Hasbro, as long as Liu Hongmin stood on his side, the two companies would also stand on his side.
This is much more practical and beneficial than Liu Hongmin supporting him himself.
The most important thing is that Liu Hongmin has enough money. The money Liu Hongmin used to set up the angel investment company was all his royalties over the years.
Liu Hongmin had basically invested all of the money from Transformers into the Japanese stock market. After the Plaza Accord, the Japanese stock market was extremely prosperous, and Liu Hongmin didn't even know how much of his money had turned into.
Liu Hongmin is not the only one who does this. All knowledgeable investors around the world do this. Because there is no limit on the exchange of Japanese yen for US dollars, this has become a semi-open secret around the world.
Moreover, compared with those big guys, the money Liu Hongmin invested is not worth mentioning at all.
The Japanese are clamoring to take over the entire United States, completely unaware that their own homes have become a meal for the American capital tycoons.
Jobs just didn't have any liquid funds, otherwise he would have gone to the Japanese stock market to get a piece of the pie.
The Japanese stock market can still hold strong for a few years, and when the big capitalists start to reap the profits, Liu Hongmin will have at least several billion dollars in his hands. If all this money is invested in Apple, Jobs will not need any other means, and can return to power in Apple just by diluting his shares.
(End of this chapter)
